Why the Siddiqui family from Gogglebox were visited by the police

Gogglebox's Siddiqui family - made up of father Sid, and sons Baasit, Umar and occasionally Raza - found themselves in conversation with Derbyshire Police, and it's all to do with Raza.

The family were placed under police investigation after Raza posted a photograph online of himself alongside his two brothers at paintballing, dressed in the usual camouflage gear. The three brothers can be seen lined up together in the picture, but it was the caption that has caused some trouble.

Granted, this probably not the most thought-through post, but Raza probably didn't expect one of his own Facebook friends to report the picture to the police. Following the complaint, Derbyshire Police launched an investigation into the family, who hail from Pakistan after father Sid moved to the UK when he was just 16.

Speaking to The Sun, the 'friend' who reported the post explained why he did so:

"When you are in the media, you have a responsibility. His friends were liking and loving it" he said, adding: "You don't know if any of those people are genuinely ISIS supporters."

Apparently friends of Baasit, who features on the hit Channel 4 show very regularly, chimed in with their own ISIS gags - with one even posting a picture of a gun.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

It's understandable why this might have raised alarm, but given the unwarranted levels of Islamaphobia there are in certain areas of this country, surely those who evidently don't hold extremist views can't have it held against them if they sometimes have a bit of a laugh and a joke about it? Because if you didn't laugh, you'd probably cry...

Derbyshire Police released a statement in relation to what happened:

"A member of the public contacted us after a photo of three men at a paintball centre was uploaded to Facebook, mentioning the so-called Islamic State. We have examined the photograph and are satisfied that the caption was not intended to be taken seriously, and there was no link to terrorism whatsoever. We will be offering suitable words of advice to those who uploaded it; however, no offences have been committed and there will be no further police action."

Obviously a platform such as Facebook wasn't the best of places for such jokes, especially considering the fact that the family has become a public figure. But one of their friends contacting the police about it? Really?